Walking Into A Brick & Mortar High End Audio Store

Lowrider57,
I'm in retail, and my fellow sales associates have a lot of unflattering names for people like you; but the one YOU should remember is "timewaster". Don't think that the salespeople you are doing this to don't know (and resent) you. All stores that sell luxury goods have regular non-customers who make a habit of coming in and pretending that they are going to purchase something. They do it for different reasons. Sometimes, it's to pass the time. With others, it's just a case of dreaming about things they can't afford. There are also those who want to try on or hear in this case, things that they actually want, but have no intention of buying new. They are going to buy online used, and they have already resolved to do that.
Of course there is nothing wrong with browsing in a store that you have stumbled upon, or even deliberately looked for. The problem is that people like yourself are wasting the valuable time of the commissioned sales associate who is there trying to make a living. While he is doing a fruitless demo, or just shooting the breeze with you, he is missing his next turn to wait on a client who may actually want to buy something from him/her.
I live in the Phoenix area, and there is one very large, and one small high end audio store near where I work in the city. I was in the small store once with a friend who needed service on his turntable. I was interested to look around while he was doing his business, but I made it clear that I was not a customer. The other store (US Tube Audio in Scottsdale) has a lot of things that I would love to see and hear, but for the reasons stated above, I will not go into that store and pretend to be a customer. The fact is that for many years now, I have bought my equipment online, whether new or used, mostly here on Audiogon, or from manufacturers that sell direct to consumer. I readily admit that I do so because I can't afford to buy most of these items new, even though doing so comes with certain advantages.
So Lowrider, I don't know what you do to earn a living, but I will make a guess that you don't appreciate having people interrupt you while you are trying to do it. Maybe you have never looked at it from the point of view of the salesperson before. If not, then you should. If you have, and you still continue to do it, then you should consider changing your screen name from Lowrider to Lowlife.

Mitch and Joman,
I agree with both of you that I got a little heavy handed at the end there, but he's treating it like it's a game, and believe me, that's just what it is. It is really annoying to read a flippant post like that when you have to deal with this issue 5 days a week.
It's not a joke; it's selfish and inconsiderate. Both of you may or may not realize just how much time people like this drain from a salesperson's selling time. Some spend 90 minutes prying information from you so that they feel confident about making their purchase from the internet, while others have nothing to do and assume that you are in the same situation, so they bend your ear for an hour or so about what they own and where they bought it for a price you wouldn't believe.
So forgive me if I don't have a lot of patience. Maybe someone else who works in retail will step in with their perspective.

Lowrider 57,
I wrote mt post before I saw your response. I aplogize to you for being abrasive, but in you original post, you did not explain yourself as completely, and it sounded as if you were just saying that it was acceptable to lead salespeople on with false promises of a possible future purchase.
In response to you and Onhwy61, I am not burned out on selling, and I actually get a great deal of satisfaction from it most of the time. Yes Onhwy61, I do value my time, as I imagine that you do yours.
And it is true that I frequently strike up a relationship with a casual browser who later becomes a valued customer.
Selling expensive luxury goods is not like selling groceries, it doesn't always happen the first, second or third time.
All that I am saying is that because of the position I am in every day, I have more respect for the time of others in the same position. Shoppers who are insensitive are not in the majority.

Avgoround,
The content of your post indicates to me that you have not read the last contribution that I made to this thread on 7/16. If you did read that post, I think that you may have a comprehension problem. It seems certain that you have a problem with writing and spelling.

This thread has certainly gone to some strange and unpleasant places. I just wanted to make one more post, several days late, to clarify my position.
To begin with, I actually do enjoy my job, which is to serve customers in a friendly and professional manner. It is also my job to educate them and make them feel comfortable. I am well aware that besides that being my primary responsibility, it is even more important considering internet competition, and the desire that many customers have for human contact.
In my original response to Lowrider57, I went off the deep end a little about a very small percentage of customers who
for reasons of loneliness, and sometimes even emotional disorders, make repeated visits to stores of all types without ever intending to make a purchase. When Lowrider57 elaborated on his original post, we made peace with one another and it was put to rest.
One poster said something to the effect that I was a whiner, and should not be in sales. I would ask him, and everyone else in any occupation or profession that they earn their living from to ask themselves if they too do not complain to co-workers, friends and loved ones as a form of pressure release from the frustrations that we all encounter in our jobs. If I don't belong in sales for that reason, then I submit to you that I have a lot of company, because everyone that I have worked with in my last 5 retail sales positions vents to myself and others on a regular basis about these small annoyances.
I do indeed believe in building relationships with clients. Luxury goods are not groceries, and a salesperson must be prepared for several visits from a potential client before a sale is consummated, and be happy if it happens even then!
The satisfaction of connecting a client with something that they really love is wonderful, but mixed in with that are some really difficult experiences. Fortunately, they are in the very small minority, and it is certainly true that if you cannot shake them off quickly and move on, you would likely do better in another field.
I strongly believe in the merits of brick and mortar as well as the internet, but if I had more money, I would patronize brick and mortar more for audio purchases, because of the experience you can have with a good dealer (like John Rutan at Audio Connection) as well as being more likely to know what you are buying before you buy it. Unfortunately, I am not financially able to do that most of the time.
I am sure that the reason that I received strong negative reactions from some posters is that they, like myself, have had some horrible retail experiences that involved rudeness, incompetence or even just indifference. That is not how I operate, and I am sorry if I gave that impression.
Mitch4t, Thanks for a provocative post. It hasn't always been pleasant, but it has at least been interesting.

Agreed. I was a customer for years before I moved west. Great guy.